Cracked Window Forces Southwest Flight to Make Emergency Landing

Cracked Window Forces Southwest Flight to Make Emergency Landing

A cracked window reportedly forced a New Jersey-bound Southwest Airlines flight to make an premature landing on Wednesday. @ChaikelK/Twitter

A cracked window reportedly forced a New Jersey-bound Southwest Airlines flight to make a premature landing Wednesday.

Southwest Flight 957 from Chicago Midway Airport was on its way to Newark when an exit window reportedly shattered after takeoff.

The flight landed at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport safely, according to The Washington Post.

Southwest Airlines said the flight and its 76 passengers were diverted "for a maintenance review of one of the multiple layers of a window pane."

“The flight landed uneventfully in Cleveland," read a Southwest statement. "The aircraft has been taken out of service for maintenance review, and our local Cleveland employees are working diligently to accommodate the 76 customers on a new aircraft to Newark."

A DansDeals reader reportedly told the site that "the crew stayed calm and cool while passengers ran away from the window."

The 43-year-old community leader and mother of two was on her way home April 17 from a business trip when the jetliner's engine burst apart, sending debris and shrapnel through the window next to her seat. Other passengers scrambled to pull her back into the plane and administered CPR, but Riordan could not be saved.